Use of Multimedia Case Studies to Teach Technical Subjects: A Multiple Experimental Study

A review of “social experiments” with adoption of multimedia-based technologies in Europe has been reported. But, there has been limited discussion on the value of multimedia instructional materials in technical disciplines. This study combines results from experiments carried out over a period of three years with multiple audiences -IT managers, business, and engineering students -to examine if multimedia case studies do improve perceived higher order cognitive skills and if so, what accounted for such improvements. Among all the experimental groups involved, this study found that people reported improvements in perceived higher order cognitive skills, self-reported learning, learning interest, challenges to their thought process, and learning from others.